Big B Blogs!!! Bunderful!! Sorry could not resist the temptation to alliterate ‘the Big B’ 
I have read most and quite simply .. I am impressed. The impeccable choice of words, control over his language, no imminent show of disrespect although make no mistake ..he is mincing no words when he wants to hit out… yet never does he offend. (more…)
Rinku Sachdeva
Kaveetaa Kaul
Update 6th April 2008: Rinkus father Mr. Harish Sachdeva puts forward his feelings and viewpoints. A must read.
Update 3rd April 2008 : If getting to the unadulterated truth is your concern then please read comment 78 where Ankush, Rinkus family member has spoken out in as veracious and candid a manner as possible.
Update 30th March 2008: Post the publishing of this write up on ‘Sachiniti’, Bapu Deedwania a senior correspondent of Mumbai Mirror got in touch with me ( see comments 13-16) . I was only too keen to set the ball rolling for her to meet the Sachdevas .. their trauma needed to be put forth as well. Todays Mumbai Mirror presents their version of the situation, exactly as Bapu had promised me, without any effort to sensationalise..purely verbatim.Responsible journalism can be such a boon. Thank you Bapu. See bottom of post for details.
Update 28th March 2008 : As predicted here,investigating police officials have found no evidence of any ‘alleged affair’ Rinku Sachdev was ‘reportedly’ accused of . For those of us who knew her, it is not important, since we weren’t assailed with doubts in any case. However, defiling of her good name, issues about circumventing facts, would ultimately tell on her near and dear ones, family and friends which would be grossly unfair. Hence this attempt to showcase the truth.See bottom of post for details.
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How does one grieve over the shocking death of Rinku Sachdeva a 28 year old who you knew as a teenager, whose parents were a couple you looked forward to meeting if only to hear their laughter and imbibe their joie de vivre? How does one replace that happy family with an image of what the TV channels air? Just how does one console the parents? Are there words which can express that ‘I understand your pain I am with you’? And more importantly would such sentiments matter any more? Would they ever be able to recover not just from the loss but more from the sordid insinuations made in the media some blatant some implied but equally defaming? (more…)
Today 28th January marks the first death anniversary of maestro par excellence O P Nayyar.
I had written a post on OPN on April 16th 2006 whilst he was yet amongst us but in response to a news item which detailed how O P ji was living with an adopted family. One knows now that the family in question accorded him all the love and respect they could possibly summon. At the time however, to imagine a ‘Badshah’ of Music directors and especially someone who had lived life on his own terms, royally, in such dire straits, evoked a surge of emotion.
Thus the post ‘O P Nayyar- Not Forgotten” was born which has since accumulated staggering statistics of 20,000+ views and 1,000 + comments and growing. Perhaps the highest in the Desi blogosphere. This if anything is a reflection of the magic of OPN’s melodies and the ardent love of his fans from all over the world. Timelessness if a factor to evaluate talent, OPN wins hands down.
Of the hundreds who commented..Famed music composer from Pakistan, Sohail Rana, one of his ghazals being the unforgettable ‘mujhe tum nazar se gira to rahey ho, mijhe tum kabhi bhi bhula na sakogey’ , (more…)
going by last years records for SRK.. theres all reason for him to be upbeat
So he pays an advance tax of 27 CR..Blink blink.. Its true. And this was for nine months, from the months of April 2007 to Dec ‘07.
The tabloids and electronic media have gone into a tizzy proclaiming ” King Khan has done it again” or something similar. Needless to add these are the ‘faithfuls’ who stridently announce his supremacy at every given opportunity while simultaneously looking askance covertly at Big B’. (more…)
Mr.Boman Kohinoor and me’
THERE IS NO LOVE GREATER THAN THE LOVE OF EATING’.. is a mantra diligently followed as well as encrypted in the menu of Britannia restaurant..
and damn gainsayers , mostly the lot obsessively watching their calories and waists, longingly, pleadingly, lurking around, not daring to venture close when you are probing the Biryani expectantly, excitedly trying to muffle the slurp. (more…)
Loved him in the CDI look
Kaveetaa Kaul
The BCCI has once again proven that is the single most controversial non governmental body. This time it has outdone itself by embarking on a tomfoolery riot in a matter outside the periphery of cricket, into a sphere which is as much revered. The iconic Shahrukh Khan. Of the three that can whip up a fanatical frenzy for Indians, inexplicable and irrational, one is umm..sex, the other cricket and then SRK..not particularly in that order..Wonder what would occur if the three appeared combined, by an act of God…which adds on the ‘religion’ as the (more…)
Kaveetaa Kaul
7264 views
Ads which have so far ruled the roost with messages of undying love proclaimed via diamonds for some and the modest Prestige cookers ( think ‘jo biwi se kare pyar woh prestige se kaise kare inkaar) are gonne look so ‘pheeka’ /outdated/archaic now that Mukesh- larger-than-life-Ambani has bought his wife Nita Ambani a Rs. 242 crore Airbus 319 corporate jet as a birthday gift.
Will-o-the-wisp- longings in vogue, much in demand aspirations with the moon seemingly within reach..Thanks to the almost unattainable eponym-ish characters gaining real life credibility.
I gulped on reading the news screaming across Mumbai Mirror, amazed, amused, somewhat envious but mostly scandalised. First Antillia his humungous mansion and now this..though I must candidly admit I find the couple hugely endearing. Nita is gorgeous. We attended a social do some time back where they as well as hubby and me were invitees and I found them to be down to earth and highly affable.
Notwithstanding.. A Jet? Whatever for? Is she planning to drop the kids to school in it to avoid traffic bottlenecks? This was my first reaction..rather frivolous I confess.. slowly other doubts clouded the mind. (more…)
A still from ‘Mela’ with Aamir and Faisal Khan .. Unfortunately life turned out to be less of a ‘mela’ ..more of a ‘melee’!
9356 views
Kaveetaa Kaul
This post has been quoted/linked in Mumbai Mirror Bloggers Park
Update 2nd Nov 07: As expected Aamirs family consisting of his wife Kiran rao and 21 other family members speak out in vehement aggression against Tahir Hussain and Faisal Khan..see update at bottom of post.
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Piqued by the rather insouciant reportage of events that have engulfed the two brothers, Aamir Khan and Faisal Khan, one felt the need to elucidate lucidly on the tittle tattle that has been persistently chasing them this past week. Although news had been alarming yet one desisted from writing on the subject out of sheer sense of fairness and also to avoid further encumbrance towards normalisation/ solution to the rather tragic turn of events.
Brace yourself for some wild gloating about moi in Toi.. in the second half of this post!!
Meanwhile, the legendary Mumbai monsoon has arrived! For many it proves to be a source of great nuisance, erratic trains, pot holed roads, dampness galore, for me nevertheless a welcome relief, a time to romanticise. It takes a lot to incite me these days. My maids quite aghast at the fact that a treasured broken vase, is met uncharacteristically with just a disapproving look, a mild reprimand and an advice at caution. She is as yet, I presume, wondering whether it has to do with her prayers or the almost perfect ‘pakoras’. Drat.. will she ever guess it has to do with almost perfect weather? Come October and my elephantine memory is gonna get her into a chase! (more…)
A picture taken not too long ago ..Deceptive?
4743 views
Kaveetaa Kaul
Shweta Tiwari a popular actress of television soaps seems to be in doldrums of the domestic kind. As reported by leading national T.V. channels and the media, Shweta Tiwari has been going through incidents of physical abuse at the hands of her husband Raja Chowdhry. (more…)
Kaveeta Kaul
India is in a state of extreme confusion…as yet undecided on the one issue that is the national obsession, namely ’sex’.While the average citizen seems to have attained adulthood considering the relaxed disposition, not going into a frenzy every time the ‘words’ mentioned, our politicians who have recently donned the mantle of moral custodians, are struggling between the Middle and Dark ages, frothing at the mouth, incensed over Valentines day, huddled couples on the sea front and so on. (more…)
Kaveetaa Kaul
If you have to keep your wits about you, then adopt a tongue-in cheek stance to news..this has been a mantra I have recently adopted. Getting incensed over incestuous rapes, paedophilia, murders is unavoidable..as is their occurrence. Sometimes one anaesthetises oneself into a zombie like state, murmurs ‘it happens’, or filmi style ‘ bade bade shahron mein aisi chhoti chhoti baatein aksar hoti rehti hain’ ( Relax! In big cities, small things such as this, keep happening) and with a wave of the hand , shrugs it off.
Mostly, one writes of it, expresses disgust, pleads for support, even if verbal, increases awareness, and sends a silent prayer to the heavens to ‘Stop This S&*^” for Your sake.
And then, once in a while, one is taken aback with news of the kind, that confounds you as to appropriate reaction. For me it resulted in a regaling half hour, bemusedly sponging in details, displaying blatant predilection over Page three/entertainment.sports/since it was a unique amalgamation … Beggars owning duplexes in Mumbai was so far just an inane piece of gossip floating around (more…)
Plain Speak: So called critics, or imho self congratulatory presumptuous ‘opinionators’, its made to appear, are having a field day spewing venom against their arch rivals Magna publications of Stardust, the producers of Bhram to get even or perhaps settle personal scores all in the name of a ‘Bhram review’. My question is : Why bring in Bhram? Why take potshots at the film? Weirdos..“Yunfair I say” ..aka Rajnikantham!! Yena rascala..mind it!! Naansense! Honestly how do these guys look at themselves in the mirror and not cringe?
That aside, the fact is there are plenty more, as is obvious from the number of ‘neutral’ critics who have raved about the film, who dont play games while reviewing movies,who dont have bosses or ex bosses sending them reviews to publish, neither are they pressurised to pleasing ‘friends’ they owe one to, so loyally tear down a rival film (too threatened by its craftsmanship) ,most of all they are not greenhorns, just out of their nappies and handed the simplest job of all, which reads..’ you like story.. you laugh.. therefore good film’…or ‘ cheap thrills .therefore great film’.. end of review.
Some critics actually have at least a rudimentary knowledge of film making (one in a hundred) coupled with a soul ( one in a million) and can sift out a genuine effort towards evolved cinema like Bhram from copies of Hollywood hits right from dialogues to shot takings.. which is indeed heartening..Kudos.
Trust me when I say that the goings on are too cheap and crass to expand on. The identity of those behind the meticulously planned campaign to denounce the film is shocking!! You’d Never guess!! Unless you belong to the media and have first hand information ! (more…)
One of those rare Sundays when one forgoes a laid back brunch, total family time, which includes hubby seriously, excitedly, animatedly and may I add successfully venturing into the precincts of the kitchen to conjure up a fancy Continental, Thai or Moghlai delicacy, preceded by a detailed account of its origins, the addition of rare spices, in-depth evaluation of the delicacy of flavour, and the expectant look on his face waiting for that ‘Aaah..Brillant’ exclamation from sunny n me.
Yesterday however was different..see pics. The event was fun, peppered with some interesting sporty folks and a hugely excited crowd. (more…)
Ms. Naitthani is a teacher at St. Xaviers College-Mumbai
Her contention”My campaign is not only against nudity; it is against the Adult content, which includes both Violence and vulgarity, my whole effort is to make media safe for (more…)
Unbelievable as that may sound, if one is to go by the mass hysteria presently on at Mahim creek on the coast of Mumbai, then it is nothing short of a miracle that the thronging crowds claim, has occurred.
Last night at about 11.00p.m., close to the Dargah of Pir Maqdoom Shah, a revered Muslim saint believed to have lived around 300years ago, sea water lost its salinity. Word spread (more…)
Hey guys!! Its been a while..Lifes like that..Wifely duties beckoned beyond all since hubby was embarking on a new project on 14th..wish him luck friends..thanks
I have written a piece for Kavita Chhibbers e-mag titled:
Mumbai- Mater Civitas.
When I think of Mumbai, a sea of impressions, etched deep in my psyche, inspire a deluge of sensations, undulating like ocean waves in my mind. And yet, how does one encapsulate the soul, the essence of Mumbai in words?
Quite unabashedly, I claim that Mumbai is my ‘jaan’ (life)! Just as one doesn’t question love for one’s mother, I’d rather not analyze what it is about Mumbai that binds me to it.
And yet how can one escape history? When King Charles II of England married Princess Catherine de Braganza of Portugal in 1661, he received as part of his dowry the isles of ‘Bom Bahia’, the ‘Good Bay’. Reclaimed from the sea, these would become the modern city of Bombay. In 1995, Bombay was renamed Mumbai, after the goddess Mumba Devi.
I was born in Mumbai, have lived here for most part of my life, save the years when foreign lands beckoned. ‘Home’ however, was always one place- Mumbai.
Once the dust settles and emotions are contained within manageable parameters, the burning desire to get at the bottom of the conundrum surfaces..the need to unravel the mystery.. To have faces, names, groups, strategies, plans exposed. (more…)
Mumbai.. Day 4th July 2006..Time 11.00 a.m..interior.. bedroom..sound of rain and winds lashing against window panes..background skies.. dark and menacing.
Kitaro playing..aroma of parathas waft in from the kitchen along with an agitated babble of arguments between the son and the maid on choice of spices, proportion of cheese, and addition of butter on insistence of son while maid confused at whether it was a preparation of parathas or pasta that was being discussed! (more…)
